EZEKIEL - CHAPTERS 40-43THE GLORIOUS TEMPLE

THE GLORIOUS TEMPLE

(The Glory of God)

Ezekiel 40-43

Taught by:  Pastor Carolyn Sissom

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

This chapter begins the final section of Ezekiel which deals with the TEMPLE and GOD’S GLORIOUS HOUSE.  The emphasis is on the permanence of the Glory of the Lord!  It climaxes and crowns the experiences of Ezekiel.  His book begins with a vision of God’s Glory and concludes with the vision of the same.

Ezekiel is honored with a sight of the glories of the upper world in the visions of the Temple and the Glory of God.  The Lord took me by vision to a mountain great and high and showed me New Jerusalem.  However, I have never seen the intricacies of the temple as Ezekiel and John did.

Matthew Henry:  “The dimensions of this visionary temple are so large that it plainly intimates, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, that these things cannot be literally, but must be spiritually understood.  This is a vision of the Gospel Temple erected by Jesus Christ and His Apostles.  Under the type and figure of a temple and altar, priests and sacrifices, is foreshown the spiritual worship that should be performed in gospel times, and perfected at last in the Kingdom of Glory, in which perhaps these visions will have their full accomplishment.”  He says, “some think” and I want to say,  “I think”, these visions will have their full accomplishment in the gospel church on this side of heaven in the latter days.”

The movement of the vision is from the sanctuary outward to the people and the land, just had been the case with the revelation of the Tabernacle of Moses.  So in Chapters 40-42, we see a New Temple.  In chapters 43-46, we have a New Worship and in 47-48 a New Apportionment..

Matthew Henry says, “Because it is hard to be understood we must humbly search it, get as far as we can into it and as get  much as we can out of it, and when we despair of satisfaction in every difficulty, bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough.”

There are four major views of interpretation regarding this Temple.  I will be consistent and teach it from the Christian-Spiritual view.  I will mention the other three for those who have studied under those teachings:

1. Historical-Literal – According to this view, Ezekiel just delineated what he had seen of Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem, preserve its memory so that the returning captives might rebuild it as nearly as they could.
2. Historical – Ideal – This says the pattern exhibited to Ezekiel was different from anything that previously existed and was the pattern of what the people should have constructed after returning to the land, though it was never built.
3. Jewish-Carnal – Those who hold this view contend that Zerubbabel and his contemporaries actually followed this pattern, as did Herod the Great.  But they hold also that the Messiah Himself will see to it that the plan is carried out to perfection.  This is similar to the traditional dispensationalist’s view that this Temple is a literal future sanctuary to be constructed in Palestine.

CHRISTIAN- SPIRITUAL

This is the typical view, according to which the whole representation was not intended to find either in Jewish or Christian times a literal realization, but was a grand and complicated symbol of the blessings God had in reserve for His CHURCH,  especially under the coming dispensation of the Gospel.  From the Fathers downwards, this has been the prevailing view in the Christian Church, especially the Reformers.  The truth is this Temple is His People, His church,  perfected and Glorified. (Rev. 21-22):

1. The vision itself had an ideal character, with laws and ordinances differing from the Law of Moses.

2. The dimensions offered here are much greater than Mount Moriah!  Ezekiel’s temple is larger than Jerusalem and Ezekiel’s Jerusalem is larger than Canaan.
3. There was a stream from the Temple all the way to the Dead Sea.
4. The traditional view of restoring animal sacrifice is a direct insult to the words of Jesus in John 4: 19-24 “Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship, you know not what:  we know what we worship:  for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:  for the father seeks such to worship him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”.  Also, the clear teaching of Hebrews that His sacrifice was one for all, and never to be repeated!
5. The nature of the prophecy holds consistently with the symbolism of the rest of Ezekiel’s prophecies (Chapters 4, 20, 28 & 29).
6. Ezekiel was known for his details.
7. Ezekiel provided a patter of Divine order from a priestly view.
8. God has not ordained the rebuilding of a natural temple in Jerusalem!  There are two Greek words for Temple, “Heiron” and “Naos”.  “Heiron” is used all through the Gospels and the book of Acts and 1 Cor. 9:13 to describe a natural building that was in Jerusalem until 70 A.D.  “Naos” is used in every other New Testament reference to describe the “real, Inner Sanctuary which we are as His Church!  “Naos” is used in 11 Thess. 2 passages and in Revelation!

Bill Britton:  “Now we begin to see a vision of the Temple of God…Solomon’s Temple had been burned to the ground…there was no semblance of order, or life, or spirituality in all of Israel.  What a picture of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ that has forsaken the Lord and allowed itself to go into the captivity of the Babylonian systems…the Temple that He shows him is not the Temple that Ezra and Nehemiah came back to restore.  It was not Herod’s Temple that was there in the days when Jesus was on the earth, because those temples were all temporal…Jesus said, “Don’t put your hope in this physical, religious system that is symbolized by these great buildings…they are coming down, and not one stone will stand upon another… I’ve hard the predictions for years that the Temple is going to be rebuilt and the Jews are going to go back to blood sacrifices, and  God is going to set it up and order it…but the Word of the Lord has said that..”Heb. 9:11-15: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building:  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the  holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh:  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot of God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

You are living stones, put together, fused together without the sound of a hammer, without man-made religious systems trying to organize you, brought together by the Spirit of God into a relationship and a unity which only God can do…this is the Temple that Ezekiel saw.  This is the temple that had a river running out of it…a river of life, clear as crystal.  John on the isle of Patmos saw it, and Ezekiel saw it…You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. To offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ… (BB)

This vision opened up in the Jubilee Year (Lv. 25) and came on the 10^th day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16).  The very high Mountain is Zion, the mountain of the Lord’s Temple which is to be established as chief among the mountains( Isa. 2:2)  (17:22).  This is the Mountain of Vision to which all prophets will be brought with Visions of the Lord.  Upon which was the frame (structure) of a City (Rev. 21).  The temple that he saw was as large as a city.  The Measuring Man is the Lord (Eph. 4:13, Rev 11:1-2;  Rev. 21:16).  Here Jesus measures the outer court, but in  New Jerusalem the outer court is not measured.  I believe that is because the Holy Ghost came at Pentecost and those who have not received Him, will not be measured.  (Rev. 21:21)  “And I saw no temple therein:  for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”  “A man whose appearance was like bronze; with a linen cord and a measuring rod and he stood in the gate.  Brass speaks of judgment and flax or linen speaks of righteousness.  The gate is the East Gate.  The measurements were exact to show that the promise is certain; they are equal, to denote harmony; and they are vast, to speak of majesty and grandeur.  He begins with the East Gate, because that was the usual way of entering into the lower end of the temple, the holy of holies being at the West end. 

In view of the recent vision of the number 333, and the visit from Nelson Tweedy, let us look at the little chambers. (Verse 10)  “And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; and three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.

Matthew Henry:  “The little chambers were for those who attended the service of the house.  The chambers were very many; for in our Father’s house there are many mansions.  Some make these chambers to represent the particular congregations of believers which are parts of the great temple, the universal church.” These were the guard chambers of the Levites. 

Verse 5 tells us the enclosing wall, denoting separation, like the linen fence about the Tabernacle of Moses.  The reed for the Temple is done by a HAND  beyond what a man can do!  Note the four directions their meaning throughout the study of the Temple:

1. The North = judgment, tribulation, trials.
2. The South = blessings, prosperity, growth.
3. The East = the Glory of a new day.
4. The West = the memories of a previous day.

God is measuring the Temple (43: 1-12).  The temple is in the City.  “Carolyn teach New Jerusalem as purity.”  It is to be measured by the Pattern revealed in the Heavenlies (Ex. 25:8).  The stairs of verse six were seven in number.  For when we go to worship God, we must ascend.  The Palm Trees of verse 16 symbolize righteousness, praise and victory.  The outer Court ( our salvation experience is here measured).  (Rev. 11: 1-2) “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein, But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”

The  windows of verse 16 were to let the light (revelation) in.  The narrow windows reveal the principle of discipline (and the windows that look to the East in verse 22 reveal a new day.)  These are the windows of the heart, and teach us that here will be an eternal unfolding of the Person of Jesus Christ!  There were thirty chambers for the priests upon the pavement, revealing the path to maturity and ministry is by way of the cross. (17).  these chambers were also storage places for the salt, the wine, the oil and the tithes.  There was also the lower pavement, revealing the path of humility (18).  The Outer court was lower than the Inner court.  The Seven Steps up into the Outer court in verses 22 and 25, when added to the eight steps up into the inner court in verse 31, constitute a total of fifteen steps, and point to the Songs of Degrees found in Psa. 120-134.  The seven steps are also found in 11 Peter 1: 1-11 and Rev. 2-3 (seven steps to the Throne).  I am going to preach soon on the Seven Steps to the Throne.  Ezekiel was brought into the inner court by the South Gate (blessing). (28).  The offerings are first mentioned in verses 38-39.

1. Trespass offering – our sins.
2. Sin Offering – the sin nature, Adam
3. Peace Offering – Service
4. Burnt Offering – total consecration

The eight tables of verse 41 speak of the covenant in resurrection and a New Day or Beginning – eating a fresh word.  These tables were of wood.  Add to them the four tables of stone in verse 42 for a total of twelve tables, the number of divine government.  The hooks of verse 43 were end-irons or perhaps hearth-stones.  Verse 44 mentions the chambers for the singers (Heman, Asaph, Merari).  We will discuss the Sons of Zadok in chapter 44.  The Sons of Zadok are a teaching unto themselves. 

Chapter 41 _ The Appointments of the Temple – This chapter should be studied in the light of 1 Kg. 6-7.  It is remarkable that silver and gold, which are so prominent in the Mosaic Tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, should not be mentioned in Ezekiel’s Temple.

The House itself is described in the first fourteen verses.  The Holy Place (41: 1-2) and the Most Holy Place (3-4) are described.  There is no allusion to the ark, mercy-seat, high priest, or tables of the law.  All these are to be superseded by the manifested divine glory.  Verses 15-26 provide the interior details. 

These internal measurements are the same as Solomon’s temple.  The side chambers were three stories high. (6, 16).  Bro. Britton likens the top chamber to the Holy Ghost, letting in the light, and the second chamber to Jesus Christ, the door, whose side was opened.  And the bottom chamber as the Father or foundation chamber.  There were thirty in order and reveal the number of maturity, even as Joseph and David came to the Throne at the age of thirty.  These chambers enlarged or broadened as they went up and the winding upward reveals the truth of Song 2:14.  Verse 8 shows that our foundations require a full measure!  The wall (salvation) was five (grace) cubits think (9).  The number 100 (fullness)  is prominent in verses 13-15.  The galleries were probably balconies.  The interior was ceiled, or overlaid, paneled, wainscoted .  The paneling was ornamented with alternate carvings of palm tress and two-faced cherubim (unlike the four-faced cherubim in Chapter 1 and 10).  These cherubim were three-dimensional.   There is one point of interest I am pondering there is the face of a cherubim, the face of a man, and the face of a young lion, but verse 21 reads, “the posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other.”  (Rev. 21:3) “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Also, the Palm Trees point to the Feast of Tabernacles. “The righteous shall flourish like a Palm Tree in the courts of God’s house.”  The altar of wood in verse 22 was the altar of incense.  Bro. Britton feels that the two-doors of verse 23 reveal the principle of moving in progressive revelation from door to door (11 Cor. 3:18).

Ezekiel 42 – This chapter reveals the measuring of the chambers of the court.  It emphasizes the Holiness of God and the principle of separation.  The cell building (the members of the body of Christ in particular, each constituting a mansion for the Father are called HOLY (saints) and are set forth in verse 1-14. 

The separate Place of verse 1 is the place He has gone to prepare (Jn. 14: 1-3).  There is a walk of ten cubits (a walk of responsibility), which is a walk of fifteen feet (a walk of rest) (42:4).  The chambers of verse 4 and 13 contained dining-rooms for the priests and baths, for no priest could enter upon his daily ministry without having first bathed. (Ex. 30:17)  The wall of verse 7 was 50 cubits (number of anointing) as well as the length of the chambers that were in the outer court.  These chambers are holy and within are eaten the things that are Most Holy.  (13) Rev. 2:17)  We will cover the garments in Chapter 44.  We can rejoice that there will come a time or an end of the measuring of the inner house. (15) “Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, and brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about….(verse 20)  there is a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.”  Until this separation is made, we will not experience the Glory of God.

Chapter 43 is a key one, for it records the return of the Glory of the Lord to the real Temple, God’s Church!   I can say unequivocally, that in 1990 the Lord visited this ministry in the home of Ann Wright in Baton Rouge, La. with the presence of the Glory of God.  When you enter this church that is the presence of the Lord that you experience.  He has not left us these eighteen years since that visitation.  That was when he named the church, The Eastgate.  By hindsight, I now know that there was a visitation of  many ministries with that same Glory during that season.

The Lord showed me once that Angel of Glory walks beside me.  He told me that wherever I go I am to declare the Glory of God.  This I do whether I preach the Old Testament or the New Testament.  I have one message, The Glory of God.

The prophet is given a view of the gospel church in purity separated from all that is profane.    He has seen the temple, spacious and splendid, then the Lord gives him a vision of the Glory of God.

Next Week,  “ The Glory of the Lord God of Israel came from the way of the east” The Lord spoke to him from the Throne (7)

Taught by:  Carolyn Sissom, Pastor

Eastgate Ministries, Inc.

www.eastgateminsitries.com

Scripture quotes from KJV, text from Principles of Present Truth, Matthew Henry and F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary